Spook looked up, noting the light shining between the cracks of the trapdoor. He smiled, then pushed it open.
There was no city outside. Just a field of grass. Green grass. Spook blinked at the strange sight, then crawled out onto the soft earth, making room for Breeze. The Soother’s head popped out, then cocked to the side. “Now, there’s a sight,” he said, crawling out beside Spook.
Spook stood up in the grass. It came up to his thighs. Green. Such a strange color for plants.
“And . . . the sky,” Breeze said, shading his eyes. “Blue. Not a hint of ash or smoke. Very odd. Very odd indeed. I’ll bet Vin had something to do with this mess. That girl never could do things the proper way.”
Spook heard a gasp from behind, and turned to see Beldre climbing out of the cavern. He helped her step up onto the ground, then they walked in silent wonder through the tall grass. The sun was so bright overhead, yet it wasn’t uncomfortably hot.
“What happened to the city?” Beldre whispered, holding Spook’s arm.
He shook his head. Then, however, he heard something. He turned, thinking he saw motion on the horizon. He walked forward, Beldre at his side, Breeze calling down for Allrianne to come up and see what had happened.
“Are those . . . people?” Beldre asked, finally seeing what Spook had. The people in the distance saw them, too, and as soon as they drew close, Spook smiled and waved at one.
“Spook?” Ham called. “Kid, is that you?”
Spook and Beldre hurried forward. Ham stood with others, and behind them Spook could see another trapdoor in the middle of the grassy meadow floor. People he didn’t recognize—some wearing uniforms from Elend’s army—were climbing out. Ham rushed over, wearing his usual vest and trousers, and grabbed Spook in an embrace.
“What are you doing here?” Ham asked, letting go.
“I don’t know,” Spook said. “Last I knew, I was in Urteau.”
Ham looked up at the sky. “I was in Fadrex! What happened?”
Spook shook his head. “I don’t know if the places we used to know have meaning anymore, Ham. . . .”
Ham nodded, turning as one of the soldiers pointed. Another batch of people was emerging from a hole a short distance away. Spook and Ham walked forward—at least, until Ham saw someone in the other batch of people. Spook vaguely recognized her as Ham’s wife, who had been back in Luthadel. The Thug let out a cry of excitement, then rushed forward to greet his family.
Spook made his way from hole to hole. There appeared to be six of them, some well populated, others not so much. One stood out. It wasn’t a trapdoor, like the others, but a slanted cave entrance. Here, he found General Demoux speaking with a small group of people, a pretty Terriswoman holding his arm.
“I was in and out of consciousness for it,” Demoux was saying, “but I saw him. The Survivor. It had to be him—hanging in the sky, glowing. Waves of color moved through the air, and the ground trembled, the land spinning and moving. He came. Just like Sazed said he would.”
“Sazed?” Spook spoke up, Demoux noticing him for the first time. “Where is he?”
Demoux shook his head. “I don’t know, Lord Spook.” Then he paused. “Where did you come from, anyway?”
Spook ignored the question. The openings and holes formed a pattern. Spook walked through the thick grass, leading Beldre, making his way to the very center of the pattern. The wind blew softly, bending the stalks of grass in wave-like undulations. Ham and Breeze rushed to catch up to him, already arguing about something trivial, Ham with a child on one arm, his other around his wife’s shoulders.
Spook froze as he caught sight of a bit of color in the grass. He held up a hand, warning the others, and they stepped forward more quietly. There, in the center of the grass, was a field of . . . somethings. Colorful somethings, growing from the ground, with tops like bright-colored leaves. They were shaped like upside-down bells, with long straight stalks, the petals at the top open toward the sun. As if reaching for its light and gaping to drink it in.
“Beautiful . . .” Beldre whispered.
Spook stepped forward, moving among the plants. Flowers, he thought, recognizing them from the picture Vin had carried. Kelsier’s dream finally came true.
At the center of the flowers, he found two people. Vin lay wearing her customary mistcloak, shirt, and trousers. Elend was in a brilliant white uniform, complete with cape. They were holding hands as they lay amid the flowers.
And they were both dead.
Spook knelt beside them, listening to Ham and Breeze cry out. They examined the bodies, checking for vital signs, but Spook focused on something else, almost hidden in the grass. He picked it up—a large leather tome.
He opened it, reading the first page.
I am, unfortunately, the Hero of Ages, read the delicate, careful letters. Spook thought he recognized the handwriting. As he flipped through the book, a slip of paper fell free. Spook picked it up—one side had a faded drawing of a flower, the very picture he’d been thinking about moments before. On the other side was a note scrawled in the same handwriting as the book.
Spook, it read. I tried to bring them back, but apparently fixing the bodies doesn’t return the souls. I will get better at this with time, I expect. However, be assured that I have spoken with our friends, and they are quite happy where they are. They deserve a rest, I think.
The book contains a short record of the events that led up to the world dying and being reborn, along with some musings I have made about the history, philosophy, and science of recent occurrences. If you look to your right, you will find a much larger group of books in the grass. These contain all of the knowledge—repeated verbatim—that was contained in my metalminds. Let the knowledge of the past not be forgotten.
Rebuilding will be difficult, I think—but likely far easier than living beneath the Lord Ruler or surviving Ruin’s attempt to destroy the world. I think you’ll be surprised at the number of people who fled to the storage caverns. Rashek planned very well for this day. He suffered much beneath Ruin’s hand, but he was a good man, who ultimately had honorable intentions.
You did well. Know that the message you sent via Captain Goradel saved us all, in the end. The people will need leadership in the years to come. Likely, they will look to you. I’m sorry that I cannot be there in person to help you, but know that I am . . . about.
I have made you Mistborn, and healed the damage you did to your body by flaring tin so much. I hope you don’t mind. It was Kelsier’s request, actually. Consider it a parting gift from him.
Watch over them for me.
P.S. There are still two metals that nobody knows about. You might want to poke about and see if you can figure out what they are. I think they’ll interest you.
Spook looked up, staring at the strangely empty, blue sky. Beldre came over and knelt beside him, looking over his paper, then giving him a quizzical look.
“You look troubled,” she said.
Spook shook his head. “No,” he said, folding up the little slip of paper and putting it in his pocket. “No, I’m not troubled. In fact, I actually think everything is going to be all right. Finally.”
ARS ARCANUM
1. Metals Quick Reference Chart
2. Names and Terms
3. Summaries of Previous Books
You can also find extensive annotations of every chapter in the book, along with deleted scenes, a very active blog, and expanded world information at www.brandonsanderson.com.
NAMES AND TERMS
ALENDI: A man who conquered the world a thousand years ago, before the Lord Ruler’s Ascension. Vin found his journal in the Lord Ruler’s palace, and thought—at first—that he had become the Lord Ruler. It was later discovered that his servant, Rashek, killed Alendi and took his place. Alendi was a friend and protégé of Kwaan, a Terris scholar who thought that Alendi might be the Hero of Ages.
ALLOMANCY: A mystical hereditary power allowing the burning of metals inside the body to gain sp
ecial abilities.
ALLOMANTIC METALS: There are eight basic Allomantic metals. These come in pairs, comprising a base metal and its alloy. They can also be divided into two groups of four as internal metals (tin, pewter, copper, bronze) and external metals (iron, steel, zinc, brass). It was long assumed that there were only ten Allomantic metals: the eight basic metals, along with gold and atium. However, the discovery of active alloys for gold and atium expanded the number of metals to twelve. The discovery of aluminum and duralumin brought this number to fourteen.
ALLOMANTIC PULSE: The signal given off by an Allomancer who is burning metals. Only someone who is burning bronze can “hear” an Allomantic pulse.
ALLRIANNE: Lord Ashweather Cett’s only daughter. She is romantically involved with Breeze.
ALUMINUM: Once known only to the Steel Inquisitors, this metal—when burned—depletes all of an Allomancer’s other metal reserves.
ANCHOR (ALLOMANTIC): A term used to refer to a piece of metal that an Allomancer Pushes on or Pulls on when burning steel or iron.
ASCENSION (OF THE LORD RULER): The Ascension is the term used to describe what happened to Rashek when he took the power at the Well of Ascension and became the Lord Ruler. It is also sometimes used in connection with Vin, as she did something similar in taking the power, though she released it instead of using it.
ASCENSION, WELL OF: Historically the location of a great power, the Well of Ascension was the place to which it was prophecied the Hero of Ages would travel in order to gain the power he needed to defeat the Deepness. Vin located it beneath Kredik Shaw in Luthadel (though it had always been thought to be in the Terris Mountains). It was deep within a large cavern filled with supplies and foodstuffs. (See also Storage Cavern.)
ASHFALLS: A term that refers to the rain of ash, which falls frequently from the sky in the Final Empire because of the ashmounts.
ASHMOUNTS: Seven large ash volcanoes which appeared in the Final Empire during the Ascension. They eject mainly ash, rather than magma.
ASHWEATHER: Lord Cett’s first name.
ATIUM: A strange metal formerly produced in the Pits of Hathsin. It condensed inside of small geodes that formed in crystalline pockets within caves there.
BELDRE: Quellion’s sister.
BLESSING, KANDRA: Each kandra was granted one of four powers by the Lord Ruler. These are the Blessing of Potency, the Blessing of Presence, the Blessing of Awareness, and the Blessing of Stability.
BOXING: The slang name for an imperial gold coin. The name comes from the picture on its back of Kredik Shaw, the Lord Ruler’s palace—or, the “box” in which he lived.
BREEZE: A Soother on Kelsier’s crew, now one of Elend’s foremost counselors and diplomats. He is thought by the rest of the crew to be half-skaa, like all of them, but he’s actually a full-blooded nobleman who was forced during his youth to hide in the underground. He is romantically involved with Allrianne Cett.
BRONZEPULSE: Another term for an Allomantic pulse.
BURN (ALLOMANCY): Allomancers utilizing or expending the metals in their stomachs are said to be “burning” them. They must swallow a metal, usually in an alcohol suspension, then Allomantically metabolize it to access its power.
BURNLANDS: The deserts at the edges of the Final Empire.
CAMON: Vin’s old crewleader. A harsh man who often beat her, Camon was cast out by Kelsier. The Inquisitors eventually killed him.
CANTON: A department of the Steel Ministry.
CETT: Lord Ashweather Cett marched on the Central Dominance during the siege of Luthadel. He feared that Straff Venture would capture the city, and its atium, and was himself suffering rebellions in his homeland. He escaped Fadrex with an army and made a desperate play for the capital. He eventually joined with Elend’s forces at the end of the siege, helping Vin fight Straff Venture, and earning himself a place of trust as one of Elend’s advisors. Although known as “King” Cett, he rules no lands, for they are still in rebellion. (See also Yomen.)
CHANNEREL, RIVER: The river that runs through the middle of Luthadel.
CITIZEN, THE: Quellion’s title. (See also Quellion.)
CLADENT: Clubs’s real name.
CLIP: The nickname for an imperial copper coin in the Final Empire. Commonly used by Mistborn and Coinshots for jumping and attacking.
CLUBS: A Smoker on Kelsier’s crew, Spook’s uncle, once general of Elend’s armies. Clubs was killed by koloss during the siege of Luthadel.
COINSHOT: A Misting who can burn steel.
COLLAPSE, THE: A term used to refer to the death of the Lord Ruler and the fall of the Final Empire.
CONVENTICAL OF SERAN: A stronghold of the Inquisitors where Sazed and Marsh discovered Kwaan’s last words.
COPPERCLOUD: The invisible, obscuring field set up by someone burning copper. If an Allomancer burns metals while within a coppercloud, their Allomantic pulses are hidden from those burning bronze. The term Coppercloud can also refer to a Smoker (a Misting who can burn copper).
DEEPNESS, THE: The mysterious monster or force that threatened the world just before the rise of the Lord Ruler and the Final Empire. The Lord Ruler claimed to have defeated it when he Ascended, but it was later revealed that the Deepness was the mists, and that the Lord Ruler didn’t defeat them so much as hold them back. The Deepness is attacking again, the mists increasingly covering the land during the day now, causing crops to fail.
DEMOUX, GENERAL: An officer in Elend’s army, known for his faith in the Survivor.
DOCKSON: Kelsier’s old right-hand man, a member of the original crew. He was killed during the siege of Luthadel.
DOMINANCE (FINAL EMPIRE): A province of the Final Empire. Luthadel is in the Central Dominance. The four surrounding dominances are called the Inner Dominances, and include most of the population and culture of the Final Empire. After the Collapse, the Final Empire shattered, and different kings took power, trying to claim leadership of the various dominances, effectively turning each one into a separate kingdom. Elend now rules the Central Dominance along with most of the Northern Dominance and portions of the Eastern and Southern Dominances.
DOX: Dockson’s nickname.
DURALUMIN: The Allomantic alloy of aluminum, duralumin is a mixture of aluminum, copper, manganese, and magnesium. If an Allomancer burns duralumin, the next metal (or metals) he or she burns will be given explosive power, at the cost of burning away all at once every bit of that metal inside the Allomancer.
ELEND VENTURE: Emperor of the New Empire, husband of Vin Venture, a Mistborn and scholar.
EXTINGUISH (ALLOMANTIC): To cease burning an Allomantic metal.
FADREX: A modestly sized, well-fortified city in the Western Dominance. Once home and capital city of Ashweather Cett, it was an important warehousing and distribution center for the Canton of Resource. As Cett left, it was seized by the obligator known as Lord Yomen.
FATREN: Also known as Fats. The skaa man who rules the city of Vetitan.
FEDRE, LORD: An infamous scoundrel of a nobleman who lived in the eighth century of the Lord Ruler’s reign. Known for his fondness for cats and canals.
FELT: Once one of Straff’s spies, the man was (like most of Straff’s employees) left behind at the fall of Luthadel. He gave his allegiance to Elend instead, and now serves as an officer in Elend’s army.
FINAL EMPIRE: The empire established by the Lord Ruler. The name came from his certainty that since he was immortal, it would be the last empire the world would ever know.
FLARE (ALLOMANTIC): To draw a little extra power from an Allomantic metal at the expense of making it burn faster.
GENERATIONS, KANDRA: The kandra people are divided into generations, based on when they were created. The First Generation is made up of the original kandra and still survives. Each century after them, the Lord Ruler allowed another group of kandra to be created, and they were named the Second Generation, the Third Generation, and so forth.
GNEORNDIN: Ashweather Cett’s only son.
GORADEL, CAPTAIN: Once a soldier in the Luthadel Garrison, Goradel was guarding the palace when Vin decided to infiltrate and kill the Lord Ruler. Vin convinced him to switch sides, and he later led Elend through the palace to try and rescue her. He is now an officer in Elend’s army.
HADDEK: Leader of the First Generation of kandra.
HAM: A Thug on Kelsier’s crew, now a general in Elend’s army. Known for his enjoyment of philosophical puzzles, and for wearing only a vest no matter what the temperature.
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